Morris and Richards square off at Ipswich

The Australian two litre super touring car championship will continue at the new Queensland Raceway at Ipswich this weekend with the points position open to doubt pending the hearing of a protest by the Volvo team against BMW driver Paul Morris.

29 July 1999Bob Jennings

The Australian two litre super touring car championship will continue at the new Queensland Raceway at Ipswich this weekend with the points position open to doubt pending the hearing of a protest by the Volvo team against BMW driver Paul Morris.

The protest was lodged by Volvo Racing over an incident in the second race of the previous round at Oran Park on July 18.

Kelvin O'Reilly, Chief Executive of championship organisers TOCA Australia, said the protest from Volvo Racing would be considered by Race Stewards at Queensland Raceway. The protest was lodged after Richards and Morris made contact when dicing for the lead at Oran Park.

The Volvo was damaged in the incident and did not start in the final event.

Morris said this week he would be surprised if any action was taken because he had already been cleared of any misconduct by Race Director Peter Wollerman after a post-race investigation into the incident.

"The umpire has made his decision, but Volvo can't seem to accept it," said Morris.

"All I did was hold the racing line into a corner - the Volvo tried to pass me when there wasn't enough room and went off the track after we touched. It was a racing incident."

Meanwhile, Richards says he is ready to launch his fightback in the series.

Richards, who trails championship leader Morris by 21 points after five of the eight rounds, tested his front-drive Volvo Racing S40 on the 3.1km Ipswich circuit on July 12.

"This is the first time the Super Tourers have been to the new track but I did some test laps there last month to check gear ratios and some other things," said Richards.

"There are four straights which will help the Volvo's top-end speed, so hopefully we can get some good results and close the gap on Paul (Morris) in the points. I haven't given up in the championship because things can turn around so quickly, as we've already seen this season."

Richards led the championship by 15 points after two rounds, but Morris has dominated the past three rounds by winning six of the eight races in his rear-drive ex-works NEMO racing BMW 320.

"We've seen a pattern where the BMW beats everyone off the start-line because it has rear-wheel-drive, and then the rest of us chase it down," said Richards. "The Volvo is capable is catching up, but getting past the BMW is another matter."

The round at Queensland Raceway comprises three races, over 10, 13, and 20 laps, and the final event includes a compulsory pit-stop for all cars to change two wheels.

Morris, who won the championship in 1995 and again two years later, leads the series with 152 points, followed by Richards on 131, and Audi Sport Australia team-mates Brad Jones of Albury and Victorian Matthew Coleman equal third on 103.

"It's hard to say who's going to have the advantage until we get down to some serious practice," said Morris. "I've done a few exploratory laps there in the BMW and I'd say there are sections of the track that will suit the front-wheel-drive cars and other places where we will be quick."

Defending Super Touring champion Brad Jones says he and team-mate Coleman are battling a lack of knowledge of the Queensland Raceway.

"I've never seen the new track, let alone turned a wheel on it, so for our team it's a case of going into the unknown," said Jones. "With no data to fall back on, practice and qualifying are going to be important to try and find the best possible car set-up."

Practice at the circuit will be held Thursday and Friday, before further practice and qualifying on Saturday.

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The size of your tyre is located on the sidewall of your tyre.It will be similar to the sample below.